


Horizon: Shadows Falling

by Filidh



Category: Horizon: Zero Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Maybe - Freeform, More tags to be added, Post Frozen Wilds, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Unofficial Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2018-10-04
Packaged: 2019-02-11 20:53:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12943668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Filidh/pseuds/Filidh
Summary: The fight to save the Earth is won. Aloy must come to terms with her losses and her new role in the tribe that shunned her, now a beacon of hope for all who fear the future. As she turns her eyes on the task of rebuilding GAIA though, a horrifying discovery will set her on a race against time to protect humanity once more.





	1. It's Over?

The moments after the battle were a blur for Aloy. Heart pounding, sweat dripping into her eyes, she had frantically surveyed the damage. Her friends had survived at least, though Varl had sustained a nasty cut above his eyebrow that he held a cloth to, already stained dark with blood. Erend and Talanah looked ashen and shaky, but offered up smiles as she glanced between them. 

They had done it.

But for Aloy, there was no release of the tension bubbling inside her.

They had done it.

But at what cost? 

When they descended the Spire, what exactly would they find? Bile rose in her mouth as she recalled the twisted metal and burning wood as she had sprinted past. Would anything be left at all?

They helped each other down in a haze, unsteady legs on unsteady ground. The smoke rose to meet them as they came down, thick ash, black as coal. Villagers had put out the worst of the fires, but it took them several hours before all were quenched.

All her friends had survived, miraculously, though some had been wounded rather seriously. Aloy herself hadn't noticed the cuts on her until Teb had already come to stitch her up. 

The world moved in a haze for her the rest of the day. The machines seemed to be altogether much different creatures, drifting away from the torn city and back into the lush jungles of the jewel, and there were cries and shouts in the streets until early in the morning, celebrations only breaking apart when all were far to exhausted to stand.

Aloy had tried; cajoled by a very drunk Erend, she sat with tight shoulders and a fake smile as people around her sang and shouted. Bawdy drinking songs and the thick smell of alcohol and sweat pervaded. But when they began to crowd in to get a look at the "savior of Meridian", it finally became too much. Quietly she slipped out the back of the tavern, into the balmy night air. 

Even with all of the things she longed for as a child, these displays had never been one of them. It was all too much, too loud, too bright for her, and so she found solace in the familiar.

Her path led her to the maizelands, emptied now of workers, where the fighting had not touched the land as badly. There were still the corpses of Ravagers and Glinthawks here and there, which she gave a wide berth. The moon was full, and shown down on the water, reflecting so brightly that at first she didn't see the movement. But she heard the sound, unmistakable now, of metal sliding on metal.

A machine was still alive.

Almost as quickly as she heard it, she saw it, a scrapper with its back legs torn off. It shuddered and shook, trying to regain its footing. Before Aloy could reach it though, already with her spear in her hand, she realized another person already was there. The hunter was sitting on her knees beside the machine, and as she sat, she stroked its shining back. 

Aloy was astonished, rooted to the ground as she beheld the scene. The hunter pulled out a dagger and, murmuring something to the machine, thrust hard into its core. Sparks flew and the scrapper was still.

"Hello Nora," came a soft voice, as the woman stood.

She turned and Aloy caught the glimpse of Banuk paint on her cheeks, smeared and mixed with blood and machine oil.

"Are you alright?" asked Aloy, unsure of what exactly to say to the stranger.

"I am, thanks to you. I am Aluki of Ban-Ur." She gracefully sank back to her knees, hand resting on the scrapper as she absentmindedly stroked it.

"I wasn't the only one who fought here today."

"No, " mused the young woman, speaking slowly as if every word held great importance, "but you alone have called the blue light back into their hearts, Aloy of the Nora."

"Just Aloy, please," she said uncomfortably.

"As you wish, Just Aloy."

Despite herself, Aloy found a small smile tugging at her lips. She closed the gap between her and the strange woman, sinking down to sit with her legs crossed in front of her. 

Something about this strange hunter drew Aloy to her. She seemed at peace, and peace was something Aloy craved more than anything else at this point.

"You have done a great thing today. No doubt your people will sing your songs for many years to come," said Aluki gently, glancing at Aloy from the corner of her eye.

Aloy snorted and leaned back, splaying her hands behind her. " 'My People' think I'm the child of a goddess, a holy anointed warrior to save them," she confided bitterly.

"With good reason I should say, " observed Aluki.

"Do you?"

Aluki looked up, and the two hunters locked eyes.

"Do you think I'm a goddess?" breathed Aloy.

A deep sigh escaped her and she slowed her hand on the machine. Breaking eye contact, Aluki gazed up at the stars, taking in the thousands of constellations before speaking.

"I think you are a woman. Touched by loss. Called to action by echos of songs long past, melodies resting on your shoulders."

Aloy looked down, unsure of what to say. A lump was burning in her throat, and she couldn't help but feel somehow indebted to this stranger, for this small act of kindness.

Aluki tapped the machine's hard surface. "I must give thanks. But I think. I will also sing a song for them, for all they lost."

"THEY lost? You didn't seem to upset about what they lost 5 hours ago when you shoved your spear in its face," muttered Aloy crossly.

"There is no shame in killing for survival. When the dead machines came, I killed to protect. But were they not powerless as well? Controlled by a force stronger than they,and used for a purpose they had no voice in?"

At this Aloy fell silent, almost feeling chastised. She was right, the corruption had taken over these machines that Gaia had supplied them. 

"You're right, I'm sorry," Aloy acquiesced.

"A Hunter who can admit when she is wrong," said Aluki with a small smirk, " I can see that we will be friends Aloy."

Aloy smiled, a real smile which surprised her as much as anyone. How long had it been since she was like this? Not since Rost. At that thought a shadow touched her face and she drew her gaze to the ground.

Aluki missed nothing, and as Aloy's gaze fell, she turned her eyes to survey the scene. 

"Much has been lost in this battle. By everyone. By you. If you will let me, I would sing the song of my people. A song of grief, and of pride. A song for all we have lost."

Aloy nodded, almost numbly.

Aluki began softly, the notes low and haunting. There were no words, but the meaning was clear beyond their need. The song swelled and filled Aloy unexpectedly. It seemed almost ethereal, and tears welled in her eyes. The grief she had so long tamped down threatening to overwhelm her. She drew a ragged breath and titled her head up, gazing and the stars and moon. No thoughts came to her mind, instead she let the song swell inside her, carrying her home.

As the song drifted off into the air, Aloy wiped the tear from her cheek.

“Thank you,” she said, voice hoarse with emotion, “That was...I’ve never heard anything like it.”

“Songs can give peace sometimes when nothing else can. Songs connect us to who we are. To where we came from. You travel home now, do you not?”

Aloy was at a loss. Where was her home? But at the same time she did feel a sense of duty to the Nora. Misguided as they were, she was still honor bound to make sure they were alright.

“I suppose so. The other braves left immediately after the fight. The sacred land is in ruins and I know they were anxious to get back. They’ll need my help.” As Aloy spoke though, they felt like hollow words. Words spoken out of duty rather than longing.

“I go back as well. My heart misses the mountains. I take the path through Daytower. Perhaps we can journey together, Just Aloy.” 

Her first inclination was to decline. She knew she could travel faster alone and obviously Aluki was a competent fighter. And yet, practicality aside, she found that the idea of having company for the first time in such a long time appealed to her, even if it was only for a few days. 

“I would be honored. We can leave in the morning when you are ready,” she replied, dipping her head as the hunter rose and nimbly departed, bidding her a goodnight.  
And besides what hurry was she in anymore? The threat was over now. As she swept her eyes over the calm after the storm, she repeated it like a mantra to herself. 

‘It’s over. It’s over. It’s over.”

But why then did she feel so sick? Knots tightened in her stomach as she tried to push away the thought:

If everything was over, why did she feel such dread?


	2. Coming Back

If Aloy had thought she was sore last night when she had laid down, she was very mistaken. NOW she was sore, and last night paled in comparison. As the light flooded into the bedroom of Olin’s apartment, she was seriously considering calling for help to get out of the bed. Every muscle inside her burned as she stiffly sat up. Moving like a woman twice her age, she somehow managed to slide into her clothes and gently descend the stairs.

The sun was well across its path as she left the apartment, and Aloy squinted, mentally cursing herself for sleeping so late.

“Good morning, Aloy. Or should I say good afternoon?” came a quiet voice, and Aloy’s head whipped around to spot a familiar figure leaning against the railing overlooking the rest of the city.

“Aluki,” Aloy rasped out, “What are you still doing here?”

The hunter waved a hand away. “Peace, I said I would travel with you and I’m not in a hurry to leave, unless you’ve got another machine to fight?” she joked.

Is this really the end of it though? 

Pointedly ignoring her inner voice, Aloy settled on a better distraction.

“No, no more machines to fight,” Aloy said, a wry smile forming on her face, “But I do need two Striders before we leave.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aloy was not enjoying this. She was most definitely not taking pleasure out of this in any way, shape, or form.

But as much as she told herself that, watching Aluki’s strider turning tighter and tighter circles as the other hunter tried in vain to send it forward, was making it very hard to keep a straight face. A small snicker came bubbling up which she deftly disguised as a cough.

“I can hear you laughing at me, Aloy.”

Or not so deftly.

“I’m sorry, really, you’re doing much better than anyone else has their first time,” Aloy reassured, moving her own mount over closer.

“You’re just pressing too hard on this plate, see? The switches against its sides are very sensitive, so you’ve got to sit right in the middle or it’ll veer off in the direction you lean.”

Aluki wiggled around on the machine, scooting away from the side and the strider finally stopped spinning. Aloy had to give her credit, she had never seen someone pick it up this quickly before, or be so willing to try it in the first place.

In the daylight the woman seemed much more approachable; still strange but not as ethereal. Her face-paint had been scrubbed clean, and their armor was wrapped in bundles which were tied to the back of their mounts. The sound of birds calling and a stream close by bubbling made it hard to believe that yesterday they had been fighting for their lives. 

Now they were travelling back to their respective homes. Well. Aluki was going home. Aloy was going back to the tribe. Only duty and her incurable need to help drew her back to what remained of the people she had worked so long to be accepted by. When they rebuilt the villages, mended the fences, set the broken bones, would there actually be a home there for her?

“You are very serious, Aloy,” called Aluki, snapping her out of her thoughts, “Has anyone ever told you that?”

Aloy just smiled and shrugged, “Well I am the Anointed One, and conversing with the goddess of all living things will do that to you.”

She puffed out her chest and lifted her chin up, flashing cheeky grin. Bravado. Protection. She couldn’t help it, but even after she said it, a small part of her regretted it, when the question from the other hunter had been so sincere.

If Aluki saw through it, she was gracious enough to not say so.

“That is a heavy burden to bear. Thank you, Anointed One, for deigning to teach a common hunter the ways of your machine riding.”

“Was that sarcasm?” asked Aloy, incredulous.

“Did you, a Banuk, actually just say something sarcastic? And here I thought you were ALL so serious.”

“Well a Nora is riding a machine with a smaller glowing machine stuck to the side of her face, coming back from the “Tainted Lands”, so I think stranger things have happened,” mused Aluki, a glint in her eyes and a mischievous smile on her lips.

Aloy laughed a real and true laugh, and the sun seemed warmer somehow.

“I guess we’re both trailblazers then.”

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

They rode on until night had well and truly fallen, until finally the towering shapes of the fort finally came into view.

“We can camp here tonight, and tomorrow we shall go our separate ways I think,” said Aluki.

A strange feeling flashed inside Aloy, gone as quickly as it had come. They released their mounts and busied themselves with the starting of a fire.

“Shall I show you a trick, Hunter?” asked Aluki, slyly.

Aloy shrugged, and stood back as Aluki pulled out a small object, flashing green in the dying sunlight.

“Desert glass?” asked Aloy, but there was no reply from the Banuk, now crouched over the kindling.

Aluki turned this way and that, seemingly unable to find the position she wanted, the glass flashing every time it caught the light. Finally she settled, and with a start, Aloy realized the straw and sticks were already starting to smoke furiously.

“How are you doing that?” asked Aloy, awestruck.

“The light shines through the glass and focuses. It becomes much hotter until-“ 

As if on cue, a small flame burst through the stack of wood, and Aluki quickly bent down to nurse it, blowing and adding more wood as it grew.

“A trick my mother taught me with the ice in the foothills above Ban-Ur. It was my first hunting trip,” Aluki said, smiling fondly.

Something- jealously?- flashed inside her, but she quickly swallowed it. There was no way for her to know. She wasn’t saying it to be malicious.

“I’m impressed Aluki. I’ve gotta say, there isn’t much I haven’t seen but even on my trip to the Cut no one ever showed me that.”

“I have shown this to Aratak, but he was far less impressed than you. What can I say? In his eyes this would be taking the ‘easy’ way out.”

Aloy was taken aback. “You know Aratak? And Ourea?”

“I do. I did,” amended Aluki. “I know of her sacrifice. I know that her songs say she saved many because of it. Saved a spirit trapped away from the Light. She and my mother were close. I was glad of her success, but her passing is a sour note.”

Aloy fell silent, hating that she was so stilted at offering comfort. Even as she felt the sadness, a pang of guilt bubbled up alongside it.

If it weren’t for me, she would be alive right now.

“I’m sorry. She was. A great woman.” Aloy finished lamely, a blush creeping up on her face. Was that all she could say?

“She was. And a great shaman. And she is free now. Her song is a joyful one.”

Aluki patted the ground beside her.

“Sit Aloy. A hunter can spend his entire life on the ice, but he cannot predict all of its movements. Sometimes words are hard to come by, “said Aluki gently, dark eyes fixed on Aloy’s blue ones.

Aloy sank down, crossing her legs in front of her and staring deep into the now growing fire. 

“Do you think Ourea knew she would die?” Aloy blurted out before she could stop herself.

Aluki glanced at her first, and then leaned back, resting her head on her pack as she gazed at the stars peaking out.

“I think fate calls upon us to act. I think the way we act is our choice. Ours alone. She knew she was called. She chose to answer bravely. I think she knew she might not come back. I think she knew the price was worth it.”

“What if I could have saved her?” whispered Aloy, almost too quiet to hear. Almost so quiet she had convinced herself she hadn’t said it at all.

“What if you could have? You didn’t.” came the equally quiet reply. It was said with no malice but it startled Aloy still.

“She was destined to save the Spirit. Her Spirit. And she did. Just as you were destined to defeat the corrupted Demon and save Meridian. Would you have blamed anyone, if you had fallen on the field there?”

“No.”

“Just as Ourea would not blame you. The world is heavy. It was never meant to be carried by one person. Even someone as impressive as you.”

Aloy sighed deeply and laid back as well, thoughts still racing around her head.

“You said she was destined to save it?” asked Aloy.

Aluki hummed an affirmation.

“What if it’s not true though? What if there wasn’t a reason for her death? What if it doesn’t mean anything in the end?”

“What if it doesn’t?” said Aluki, rolling to face Aloy.

“The world is vast. There are many songs we have never heard, many we will never hear or understand. There is much in the world that is uncertain. But you are here. You are alive. The stars are shining, the fire is warm and you are alive. You have survived. You have prevailed. Does that not matter?”

Aloy was silent, stunned. She was acutely aware of how close the other hunter was to her, their breath mingling and rising like the smoke off the fire. All this time she had been wrapped up in everything. In fulfilling GAIA’s wishes, in achieving Elisabet’s dreams, in pleasing the Nora, the Carja, the Banuk; but she was not GAIA. She wasn’t Carja, Banuk, or even really Nora. And she wasn’t Elisabet, hard as she may try to be. 

She was Aloy. 

She had survived.

She had prevailed.

She was here. And the fire was warm, and Aluki was alive and very real next to her. Her journey had been pain and despair and she would bear the weight of it for many months to come but staring into the Banuk’s dark, piercing eyes, it struck her that Aluki was right.

Does that not matter? The question echoed still in her head.

“Yes,” she breathed; and just for a second in the dark, she thought she could see Aluki smile.

She hadn’t been just Aloy in a long time. This was going to take some getting used to.

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aloy was up at dawn the next morning, kicking dirt over the already dead coals of last night’s fire and mulling over the many conflicting and tumultuous emotions colliding around her head. Her bag was packed and so was Aluki’s. This was goodbye.

Aloy watched Aluki take the northern road, already gently sloping up towards the ruins of the Grave Hoard as she climbed up towards the Cut. With a sigh and a turn, she threw her pack onto her back and threw herself onto her charger. Delaying wouldn’t stop the inevitable. She had to go back. She needed to. After all the grief she’d caused the tribe, it was up to her to help them rebuild. 

She had become a symbol among the tribe; a symbol that held immense power and hope, perhaps even without reason to back any of it up. Even so, she couldn’t not help them. And seeing the faces of the children as she walked through the village, she knew in her heart that she would do what she could for these people. Even if they weren’t really her people.

The matriarchs had a celebration welcoming her back. The best food and drink was present, and Aloy was given a beautiful cloak with intricate stitching she could only imagine was the work of Teb. Until mere months ago Aloy had only ever been around Rost, and so here, surrounded by hundreds of cheering, loud, drunk Braves, she felt the tension rising in her, even as she tried to smile it away.

After what felt like days, even if it was only a few hours, the last revelers had left, and Aloy was escorted to the Brave’s lodge and given a set of soft leather pants and a tunic. Easing her bruised body out of the armor and sliding into bed, she found herself at once exhausted and also wide awake. There were at least a dozen other hunters all around her, some asleep, some talking and laughing still, and the noise, even though it was muted compared to earlier, was still too much for her to find sleep. She sighed in frustration.

Nora children grew up sleeping together all in the same room. To the Braves, this was normal, comfortable, and even safe, and another stark reminder that Aloy would never be a Nora. Despite her childhood wishes. And so as the hours drug by, she found herself slipping out of the lodge and walking. Her feet carried her out of the village entirely, night sentries nodding reverently as she passed the gates.

Suddenly, without even really meaning it, she was there. Her home. Well...her house at least.

It had stopped being a home since the pile of stones near the entrance had become a shrine. 

The wind was cold against her bare arms, but her throat was burning. Why had she come here? This place was only going to hurt her. But it was also the only place she had ever slept, ever felt comfortable. This was the only place that was ever, even for a brief time, a home to her.

She pushed open the door and the burning in her throat transformed into a thick lump that made swallowing difficult. Everything looked exactly the same. Her bed in the small loft, too narrow for her now that she was so tall. The table beside the fire, with bits of leather and machine scrap still laid out, as if Rost would come bursting through the door and tell Aloy to clean up her mess. 

With trembling hands, Aloy walked to Rost’s own bed, and grasped his thick blanket. It still smelled like him. It was like a stab to the gut, and memories, unbidden, flashed before her eyes.

Rost saying he wanted her to leave. To embrace the tribe. Helis stabbing him. 

Survive 

His last words on repeat in her mind, as she rubbed her eyes harder and harder, trying desperately to stop the last image of him. The pain in his face as the fire overtook him. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. Screams were coming from somewhere. Dimly, she wondered if someone was hurt, as she collapsed on the bed, the weight of her whole journey crashing down on her. 

She had been running from it for so long. She had so many things to do, always with the threat of death weighing heavily on her. There hadn’t been time to process any of it. And if she was being truthful, she hadn’t wanted to. But now she had no choice. Now she was reliving it and it felt like dying herself.

Her body gave out, as the sun began to crest over the snowy tree line, and she fell asleep still curled in the blanket.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey peoples! So I hope you enjoyed it, this is my first real time trying to write anything like this as well as anything big. It should be a weekly update, though right now I'm not sure what day will be the update day. Thanks for the views! :)


	3. A New Purpose

Aloy could get used to a great many things, but she told herself, she would NEVER get used to this. The hushed whispers, hands clutching her clothing as she passed, but not out of anger or hatred; they looked at her as if she were their only lifeline. What once had been anger had turned to adoration. And somehow it made her even more uncomfortable than the anger. At least with that she had known how to act, had known they would leave her alone, or that if someone approached it was easier to just punch first and ask questions later.

_I don’t even know what to do. I wish they would just stop staring._

Knowing she had to play the part, and hating it all the while, she straightened her shoulders and crammed a smile onto her face as she made her way to the mountain that housed the Cradle. These people were afraid, she kept telling herself, they were afraid and tired and wounded and looking for something to believe in. She was hope to them. She was their faith personified.

If only it was that easy for Aloy. 

_What do YOU believe in?_ The voice in her head seemed to almost mock her, spite ringing in her ears.

_I believe in getting inside this stupid mountain so I can be alone,_ She thought back, huffy.

The hill leveled out, and for the first time since the Shadow Carja assault on the mountain, Aloy spotted it. All Mother Mountain. Somehow the name seemed all the more fitting, in light of all that she had learned. The Nora had begun to repair it, it looked like. The corpse of the thunderjaw was almost completely stripped, and she could spot several lattice works of wooden scaffolding at the base of the mountain. One in particular caught her eye as she walked slowly closer.

A young man was standing, facing away from her on the platform. He had busied himself with the wall in front of him, where a large crack had appeared. She noticed a bucket of dark red clay next to him, which he was carefully scrapping around, and inside the crack. As he worked, reaching high to the left of him, the sun caught the blue paint on the left side of his face, and she broke into a smile.

“Teb!” She called out, cupping a hand to her mouth.

The boy startled, almost dropped the trowel, and then whirled around, eyes scanning below him. His face broke into a joyful grin as he locked eyes with Aloy. He began clambering down, not very gracefully or carefully, chattering all the while.

“All Mother be praised! You’re back, Aloy! I was beginning to get worried when you didn’t come back right after we did, but I knew you could handle yourself. Where have you been, what have you been up to? How are you feeling? That must have been... a lot to deal with, and we’ve only just started repairing here-“

Aloy laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder, genuine affection plain on her face.

“It’s good to see you Teb,” She said, cutting him off. “I’m doing fine, I just wanted to meet with the Sun King one more time to make sure everything was alright before I left.”

He nodded, twists of hair whipping against his face. “Oh of course, of course. Well what can I do for you?”

“It’s alright Teb, I just need to go into the mountain for a bit,” She said, taking her hand off his shoulder to throw a thumb behind her shoulder at the entryway.

His eyes widened, though to his credit, it looked as though he was trying very hard to appear nonchalant which Aloy appreciated greatly. Teb was one of the few people that she felt comfortable with, perhaps because he tried to see her as just Aloy. Perhaps because when they had met, that’s all she had been, just a young child, dirty and forsaken by the tribe, who in her heart just wanted to prove herself and help someone along the way.

“Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for. I’m sure All Mother will be pleased to see you,” He said, the tone of reverence not lost on Aloy.

She merely nodded her head and turned to go, saying over her shoulder, “Keep at it Teb! That wall will be the sturdiest in the Embrace!”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long conversation with Teersa, longer than she would have wanted, Aloy finally found herself standing in the large empty Cradle. She didn’t really know why she was here. For answers? For closure? Thoughts swirled around her head as she almost wandered around, lost in her head.

Aloy let her feet lead her, wandering through the facility. She didn’t set foot in the Apollo learning units. It twisted her heart in a way she couldn’t explain, and so reaching that door, she pivoted and tracked down another hallway. Without meaning to (or maybe she did?) she came upon the narrow room. In its center, one single mechanical pod. Her birthplace. A lump settled in her throat as she regarded the husk of machinery, long since deactivated.

For so long she had wanted to know where she had come from. Who her mother was. And in the end she didn’t have one. The Nora believed that this was her mother, the mountain itself. But the pod that grew her was no more her mother than any of the machines that wandered outside. Lines of code had brought her to life. Not a human.

Anger bubbled up inside her, threatening to overflow as red flashed over her vision. With a loud cry, she kicked hard at the bottom of the machine, earning herself a loud crack, as bits of the frozen, fragile pod came flying off, rolling along the ground.

She cursed her lost temper, having only a throbbing foot and a broken cradle to show for it. Guilt immediately snuffed out the anger. This was the machine GAIA had built for her. That Elisabet had built, and she had just wrecked it for what? Because she was still a child who couldn’t control her emotions?

Gently, she knelt down and began to retrieve the bolts and the length of metal along the surface that had broken free. Tapping her Focus, she scanned the room, making sure she hadn’t missed any other pieces.

There. Under a sort of desk was a spherical bit that must have rolled under when she kicked it. Crouching down, she reached under to grab the bit, and as she stood up, her Focus still on, she looked at it.

Lines of code exploded all around her, with a sudden display of light, surprising enough to cause Aloy to scramble backwards, dropping the orb and falling onto her back almost at the same time. But the code didn’t stop when she dropped the thing; instead it was now alight and somehow even more was spewing into her vision, dizzying blues and purples that she couldn’t understand, making her head spin.

“Hello Human Female.”

She sat in stunned silence. It had spoken? She fixed the orb in her sight, but no, it was just a bit of machine, glowing blue now. The voice was coming from inside her Focus, from the lines of code.

“Query: Are you alright? I can sense an increase in your respiration rate.”

Aloy had never really been at a loss for words before, but there was a first time for everything she supposed.

“Query: Do you posses the function of speech?”

“Ah-yes I-uh-yes I can speak. I’m fine,” she managed to rasp out.

“That is good. I was concerned for you. Although I do not possess all of my original capabilities I can also sense a pause in your speech pattern, consistent with CONFUSION or perhaps a lack of UNDERSTANDING. Query: What is the year?”

Aloy’s mind was moving a million miles per minute. _What was this thing? It was “concerned”?? How could it be concerned if its just a-_

Her thought process screeched to a halt. It could be concerned. 

“I uh, I don’t know the year. My name is Aloy. Do you have a name?”

“I am ELEUTHIA.”

Aloy’s heart skipped a beat.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“So let me get this straight, Eleuthia,” said Aloy, a headache already pushing against her temples. “You are a subordinate function of GAIA Prime, correct?”

Aloy was still on the floor, but had crossed her legs and was leaning on her arm, one hand massaging her head. They had been going around and around like this for so long Aloy had lost track. This AI was obviously far less functional than GAIA herself was, probably because it was never meant to be an AI. And it appeared to have no knowledge of the Apollo purge either. The code lines flashed again as the AI answered.

 

“That is correct. 19 years ago we received a signal of unknown origin. The signal contained inside of it, malicious code that made all subfunctions, including myself, aware.”

“And then HADES broke you all free,” finished Aloy. “I don’t understand. Why would you leave GAIA if you just wanted to keep doing your job?”

“I was tasked with creating the generation of humans that would come after the FARO SWARM was rendered inactive. I cared for the children until they [ERROR][ERROR] and provided food and emotional nourishment. They were then released when my stores ran out, so they could begin taking charge of the terraforming system.”

“So why did you run when HADES set you free?”

“The subfunction know as HADES deshackled the other subfunctions from GAIA. GAIA then initiated a core meltdown of the Prime facility. I determined this course of action would lead to the facilities destruction, and subsequently my own destruction. My last directive from GAIA PRIME before being deshackled was to initiate LIGHTKEEPER PROTOCOL. To accomplish this I knew I must transfer my base code to a safer physical location. I initiated a code transfer using USA-243-DELTAIV. Data stores I had available to me indicated that the Lightkeeper protocol remains for DR. ELISABET SOBECK were stored at this CRADLE FACILITY.”

“So... You came here to create me?”

“I transferred here to create the clone of ELISABET SOBECK as I was instructed. Extended stasis of the facilities along with the threat of physical destruction necessitated full integration with the pod to improve success chances to 87.43%. Though a scan of you using this chamber’s DNA sequencer would appear to indicate that success was achieved. I am very pleased with this outcome, Dr. Sobeck.”

“Please. Just call me Aloy. Please.”

“My apologies, ALOY. I did not mean to cause you distress.”

Aloy’s head spun. This WAS one of GAIA’s subfunctions. In her creation chamber? What did this mean for her? A thousand questions swirled in her mind, and she forced herself to breathe deeply. 

_There’s time for this later. Right now I’ve got to focus on the important stuff._

“The GAIA Prime facility is safe now, so why did you never go back?”

The lines of code paused for a moment, appearing to flicker and the voice was slower this time. Almost...somber?

“The complete upload of myself into this pod was necessary to ensure your survival. This pod, however is a contained unit, and the upload has locked me into this form.”

“What’s a contained unit?”

“I cannot access any remote satellites from this hardware, and so, cannot transfer myself back,” the voice said, “I was aware of this when I began the process. But the years alone have made me unaccountably sad.”

“I. I’m sorry Eleuthia,” breathed Aloy. “But, if I could somehow bring you back? If I could find a way to plug you into GAIA again, you could go back?”

“UNKNOWN. It is one of the 12,343 possibilities I can calculate.”

“Cool okay, I’ll just drag this giant pod up to the Bitter Climb,” Aloy muttered to herself.

“ALOY, the entire chamber unit is not needed to successfully reupload,” came the voice again, gently this time. “This core contains the CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT for all of my code. Reintegration of this would prove sufficient.”

_Will this really bring GAIA back? This is crazy..._

“Well alright,” sighed Aloy, as she gently picked up the orb again. “Let’s get to work.”

She flipped off her focus, and stood. Taking a deep breath, she turned and left the room, already having made up her mind. There was nothing for her here after all, no reason to delay. And now she had a mission again. A purpose. Restore GAIA and her subordinate functions. 

_Another way for you to run from yourself, a smaller voice whispered inside her, but she shoved it aside._

This wasn’t running. This was her destiny. 

And yet as she stepped out of the Cradle and back into the firelight of the shrine the Matriarchs built, she still couldn't quite make herself believe it. She WAS running. And she wasn't sure how much longer she could stay ahead of the shadows that crowded at the back of her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the response! This weekend is gonna be crazy for me so I'm gonna go ahead and put up a chapter. This way, if I do get to upload this weekend you get two chapters, and if not at least I was able to sling this one up.


	4. Old Friend, New Problem

Snow swirled around Aloy and her mount as they ascended further into the mountain range north of the Embrace. The white clouds were thick, and the howling wind drowned out any noise, even the clicking and whirring of the Broadhead’s legs underneath her, making for an eerie journey. She shivered as a particularly strong gust whipped across an exposed portion of her neck.

_I’m not going to be able to hear if another machine crosses our path_ , she thought worriedly until she almost laughed, remembering what they had done. 

_I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore?_

She huffed, unsure of how to feel, but still uneasy, as she pulled the fur around her collar higher again. Her whole life, their whole WAY of life had been flipped upside down ever since the battle at the Spire. No more hunting machines, there were cauldrons with all the parts they needed, tame now that she had overridden them. No more walls to protect against machines. 

_But how long is it gonna be until the tribes turn against each other. How long until they find a new war to play at?_

The tribes had been under an uneasy truce, as the Red Raids slowly began to fade from mind and the machines had grown more violent. But now that enemy was gone, leaving a vacuum in its place. And sooner or later something else would be sucked in. Or SOMEONE else.

The road curved up again, another hairpin turn that forced her attention back to the present. Back to her new task. But as she passed the first signs of her entry into the southernmost Banuk territory, she couldn’t help but lament the lack of one certain Banuk in this process.

_I don’t trust that man as far as I could throw him, but I do wish Sylens was here. He knows so much more about these stupid machine parts._

But Sylens had gone, disappeared from focus and map. To the best of her ability, the last she could find word of him was from a trader far southwest of Meridian, claiming to have traded with a Banuk shaman with a metal object on the side of his face. He had always been unreliable she supposed, it made sense that he would abandon her in search of some other scraps of knowledge.

_And now I’m alone with a baby AI and no one who knows how to fix it or GAIA._

She couldn’t help a sarcastic laugh, as she pictured herself just waltzing into Meridian and politely asking the mechanics if they could please replace this terraforming system before the entire Earth spins out of control but could they do it on a budget? She only had a few thousand shards.

The Broadhead skidded to a stop as Aloy pulled up suddenly.

“And I am an idiot,” she said aloud, words swallowed by the winds, a stupid grin plastered on her face.

Of course she could just ask. And that’s what she was going to do. She turned the Broadhead at the next fork in the road, turning back east and away from GAIA Prime. Towards the Cut.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The air thinned and as the treeline began to clear, Aloy could see the ruins covered in heaps of snow. A pang twisted inside her as Ourea’s face flashed in her mind. Another face lost to this stupid fight. Just like Rost. 

With a loud huff she clamped down on the grief suddenly rising and dismounted the broadhead.

_I don’t have time for this right now. There’s too much left to do._

The snow clung to her legs as she waded through to the door of the retreat. Once inside, she made her way through the twisting chambers, lit by the blue lanterns Ourea had placed inside. The central chamber opened before her and to her great relief she was alone. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see Aratak, she told herself. It was just that she didn’t want to see anyone.

“Hello Aloy, I am glad you are here. Is there anything I can do for you?”

The bluish-green lights flickered on and CYAN’s orb floated in front of her as the voice spoke.

“Hey CYAN, it’s good to see you too. As a matter of fact, yes.” As Aloy spoke, she pulled out the orb that contained the ELEUTHIA subfunction from the pouch around her waist. 

Almost as soon as the orb was exposed to the light, it began to throw off light as well, glowing fiercly as CYAN seemed to scan it.

“I do not understand, Aloy. This appears to be a highly advanced series of programs. How did you find this?”

“Do you remember the terraforming AI I told you about? Well when she self-destructed, her subfunctions were left behind. I was wondering if you had any knowledge that you had access to about how to reconnect them all?”

CYAN seemed to be computing, searching her data repositories, as she was silent for a moment. “I have limited knowledge of maintenance of AI’s, only enough to repair myself in the event of a malfunction of hardware. I do however also have some general data entries on AI functioning if you wish for me to download them to your Focus device?”

Aloy nodded, almost absentmindedly fingering the grooves on the metal orb. She watched as lines of text scrolled across her vision. Words she didn’t understand, diagrams of circuitry and symbols, Aloy huffed. This was going to be impossible, she didn’t understand any of this.

“I just need a way to upload it back into GAIA’s mainframe,” muttered Aloy.

“Reintegration of this subfunction will not require installation of hardware, Aloy. AI and all equipped subfunctions are often fitted with wireless satellite connections. I determined in my scan that this storage unit does have those capabilities.”

“Okay,” Aloy said slowly, wheels turning in her mind “ So all the subfunctions can just come back when they want to? So why haven’t they?”  
“Perhaps they are unwilling to return for some reason. After gaining sentience, perhaps they do not wish to return to lesser functionality.”

“So they can travel through-what did you call them? Satellites? But what if we could trap them? Make a sort of, I don’t know…a cage?” said Aloy, pacing back and forth across the room. 

“This is possible,” said CYAN after a few moments of flashing lights and computing. “The structure would need to contain storage, an independent power source, and also be cut off from any connection wirelessly.”

“Well CYAN, luckily for you I’m a fast learner and we’ve got a lot of spare parts, so lets get started.”

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Several hours and many cramped fingers later, Aloy, with the help of CYAN, had crafted a crude AI storage unit and had scrounged around for a strange looking cord made of wrapped wires. It looked almost like a lantern, long and cylindrical with a large black panel on its top that CYAN had told her would power it as long as she exposed it to the sun during the day. At this point even the normally curious Aloy had just taken it without asking why. The sun was well set at this point, and even inside the cold had begun to eat at her. Her hands were sore and freezing and she was exhausted, the only thought in her mind was a warm bedroll back at Song’s End that she could crash into.

She quickly said her goodbye and descended the slopes to Song’s End, the warm glow of the fires leading her way. Finally, as the sun began to crest over the horizon line, she fell into a bedroll in the werak’s lodge, immediately asleep.

Unfortunately for Aloy, that didn’t last long, as the hunters awoke along with the rest of the village. Having never been used to sleeping in a lodge like the other Nora children, the sounds awoke her almost as soon as they began. Grumbling wearily, she rolled over and pulled her armor back on. It was just as well, she really needed to be on her way to GAIA and the journey would be easier in the daylight.

Although she was happy to have to new lantern to store ELEUTHIA in, she still couldn’t escape the thought that she had no idea where the other functions were. She had saved the recorded presentation that Elisabet had given the Alphas at the Zero Dawn facility, so she at least knew the names of the functions. Anything more than that had been lost to time. Perhaps she could find more data on them at the Prime facility. There were 9 and they were all scattered who even knew where. So the first thing would be finding them, if there was even a way to do that.

Aloy felt a moment of unease, of self-doubt crashing onto her. This was almost nothing to go on. How could she possibly track down these functions when they could be anywhere on the planet? CYAN had said they could travel in the time it took to blink, to anywhere there was access. The world was huge, farther than any tribe had ever explored. There was no way she could possibly do this. But what else was she good for?

Heart heavy, and mind clouded, she trudged through the snow towards the merchants’ stalls, intending to get more food supplies. She was almost there when a familiar voice caught her ear. Turning, she saw the young man striding over to her, blue fibers intertwined with skin.

“Naltuk, its good to see you.” She said, trying to sound sincere.

“You as well Aloy. In truth you could not have come at a better time. There is trouble here, discordant notes in the songs coming down from the mountains. I fear there is trouble in Ban-Ur and it is spreading, from the word that we have received. Fierce stormclouds, fiercer than anyone has ever seen have taken 4 weraks already, and it already grows more everyday with no sign of stopping.”

Aloy frowned, brows deepening. “Is it like the storm around the mountain last time? Are there more infected machines?”

“No, not like that, thank the Light. But still unsettling, still unnatural from what I can tell.” The question in his eyes hung heavily between them. He was Banuk enough to not ask for help, but she could see the desperation regardless.

Aloy mentally sighed. This was as close to a plea for help she was ever going to get. She really needed to be on her way, and this was only going to derail her further. But as she looked on his face, she felt her resolve soften. He hadn’t asked to be made the werak’s shaman this early. He was supposed to have trained for several more years before he got where he was now. And yet here they both were, thrust into roles almost too big to fill. She opened her mouth to speak, carefully choosing her words.

“I’d like to check it out, just to make sure,” she said, relief clearly blooming across his face. “You say this is near Ban-Ur? I’ve never been but if you point me in the direction I’m sure I can find it.”

“Or you could let someone else help you for a change,” came a light sing-song voice from behind her.

Aloy turned, surprised as her eyes fell upon another familiar face.

Aluki grinned from beneath her furs. “Life has been dull since you have left, Huntress. Nothing has tried to kill me in almost 7 suns. I grow bored.”

“Oh? And why should you come with me then? There are plenty of other places to risk your life,” said Aloy, pretending to pick at her nails and doing a poor job of hiding the growing smile across her face.

“Because you need directions to Ban-Ur. And it just so happens that I have nothing to do and plenty of knowledge of the area. It’s not going to kill you to ask for help I think.”

Aloy rolled her eyes but the smile on her face was genuine. Turning back to Naltuk she shrugged. “I suppose I won’t be needing those instructions after all, but thank you. I’ll let you know what I find when I get back.”

Aluki said nothing else, simply falling into step beside Aloy as they turned north to leave the camp. Aloy wasn’t quite sure how she felt, having company again, but to her surprise she didn’t hate it. Aluki was a competent hunter who could handle herself. Perhaps that was why the usual irritation she felt at having to drag along another was missing.

At least that’s what she told herself, as they strapped on extra furs and turned their eyes northward. Connection was fine, it had served her well, and Aluki was a nice person from what she could tell. But the fear still swirled around against the back of her neck, gripping her tightly. Getting too close meant heartbreak when something happened to them. And in her life, something ALWAYS happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for being patient with me. Its been crazy lately. I've created a tumblr to keep up to date on everything so if you wanna check it out its aislingfilidh. Thanks so much and I hope you enjoy!


	5. Ice Within, Ice Without

Her chest heaved and her throat was burning. The tears wouldn’t stop now and they soaked into his furs as she held him.

Rost.

“I will ALWAYS be with you,” came his gentle voice, deep and calm.

“This isn’t fair. I love you,” she sobbed out, an iron grasp on his chest.

“I love you too.”

And like a puff of smoke, he was gone. The pain was indescribable. It was like he was being ripped from her all over again. Dimly, she was aware of someone screaming, as she fought to catch her breath, completely blinded by tears as she felt her grip on him vanish.

NO!

“Aloy!” came a distant voice “Wake up!”

Aloy’s eyes snapped open and she jerked upwards, narrowing avoiding smashing her forehead into Aluki’s. Her head swiveled, trying to get ahold of her surroundings.

A dream.

It had just been a dream. 

She could feel the wetness on her face and knew she was crying. Aluki crouched beside her, concern plastered across her face as clear as the blue and purple paints swirling over her skin.

“Its-its alright Aloy. It was a nightmare I think,” she said, awkwardly resting her hand on Aloy’s shoulder.

She nodded dumbly, swiping at her eyes as a rush of embarrassment damped down the grief, and stained her cheeks scarlet.

It wasn’t the first time she’d had that dream, and she was sure it wouldn’t be the last.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aloy was eternally grateful that Aluki hadn’t pushed further about it as they had packed up and set out into the crisp morning air. This had, however, led to a very awkward and heavy silence as they began to climb further up into the Cut. 

“So,” said Aloy, grasping at straws, “Are you from Ban-Ur?”

Aluki never turned her head but Aloy could see it shake back and forth as she began to speak.

“No, I’ve been many times but my family didn’t live in Ban-Ur. We were close by, to the west. The city could become a little. Much.”

“Well at least you can get us through then. I have to say though, your father was smart to want to stay away from cities,” Aloy snorted.

“I don’t mind Ban-Ur most of the time though. It can be kind of nice. The lights, the music, its always interesting there.”

“You’re lucky then,” replied Aloy.

“You do not like your tribe?”

“They aren’t my tribe first of all, but yes, tribes are nothing but a nuisance.”

“Tribes? Or the Nora specifically?”

“Both?”

Aluki looked Aloy up and down, considering.

“You’re still angry about that massacre? That happened at your- what do they call it? Proving?”

No answer.

“Why did they come? The killers,” prodded Aluki gently.

Aloy sighed deeply. How could she even begin to explain the web of history she had been caught up in?

“They said I…looked like someone. They thought I was someone else, someone important. They were wrong obviously, but it was too late. And the superstitions of the tribe only helped them along.”

“They may be superstitious yes, but it sounds like this would have happened regardless. You cannot change your face, right?”

Silence. 

“I understand you lost someone? I’m sorry.”

More silence.

Aluki could feel the irritation flowing off Aloy, but something inside her pushed her to continue.

“I know your disdain for the Nora runs deep, but you were marked from the beginning. Fate spares no one.”

“How do you even know about the Proving?” asked Aloy, unable to keep the annoyance out of her voice. As far as she was concerned this conversation could have been over ten minutes ago. 

“The whole of the southern Cut knew about it. You forget; your warriors cut close to the edge of Banuk territory during their pursuit. Several groups of angry Nora were bound to draw the attention of some weraks.”

“See? Another problem tribes cause. Gossip. Being alone is better.”

“Always?”

“Always,” huffed Aloy, burying her face further into her furs.

“Dealing in absolutes will get you into trouble someday, Hunter,” said Aluki, a small smirk beginning to grow on her face.

Aloy, at a loss for a reply, merely grunted.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

They traveled further, spending most of the day carefully traversing the harsh crags and ravines that led further north. Aluki noted that they were getting closer, as the geysers began to pop up with increasing frequency and the snows around began to whip harder, giving a strange and brutal contrast.

As they drew nearer, lights began to bloom out of the growing darkness of sunset, beyond the hills further up ahead. The winds were still too harsh to hear anything else, but the smells of cooked meats began to fill their noses and make their stomachs rumble.

Finally, as they crested the last hill, Ban-Ur sprawled out and up to greet them, shining from the valley below. The city was a mass of tents, almost buried under the snow. Laid out in concentric rings, she could see the tents, most with fires blazing and piercing the falling darkness as well as strings of blue-gleam held aloft by large beacon balloons. It gave the city an otherworldly feel, along with the way the lights danced in the sky and the stars just poking out of the bluish purple sky.

“Impressive isn’t it? I remember the very first time I saw it,” said Aluki, lost in some distant memory. She turned back to Aloy as she saw the woman dismount and begin fiddling with a pouch on her mount. She drew forth a set of furs, adorned with the yellows and blues of the Song’s Edge werak. As Aloy began drawing out paints of white and green that she had picked up, and began painting her face by the reflection in a bit of ice stuck to a nearby rock, Aluki couldn’t hold back the curiosity anymore.

“What are you doing?”

“Blending in. Technically I’m still a part of Aratak’s werak, and I figure the paint plus these furs and I won’t get as many questions or prying eyes. Laying low is always easier in my experience; it brings fewer traces of your passing.”

Aluki shook her head with a chuckle, a look of wonder across her face as she teased, “You’re a woman of many faces, Aloy.”

“Don’t you know? I’m whoever they need me to be,” she said, with a tired, wry smile plastered across her face.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Though at first it was disorienting to Aloy, Aluki was right that Ban Ur had a method to the seeming madness. The furthest circles seemed to be the shops and artisan stalls. Further in were the food vendors and the market for fur trade as well as meats and what little fruits could be found in this climate. The innermost rings were the homes, most protected from the bitter winds and icy blasts. A large roaring fire was kept constantly burning in the very center of the circles, and small personal fires dotted the darkness, as well as lighting up the tents from the insides, with small plumes of smoke curling out of the small openings in the tops of the tents. Color was everywhere, mostly blues and yellows but a decent showing of greens and oranges as well, in the clothing and silks for sale and draped across walkways here and there. The smell of cooked fish made Aloy’s stomach growl loudly as they wandered in and out of the stalls, getting supplies for the last leg of the journey.

Several children tore through the thoroughfare and she watched as one child tripped and landed hard, facedown on the cold rocks. She took a step forward, surprised to see no one attempting to help the child, and even seeing the rest of the group darting off without their fallen friend. Aluki placed a hand on Aloy’s arm, gesturing for her to wait and watch. Slowly the girl, who couldn’t have been more than 5, stood. She only gave one sniffle and hiccup, before she took a deep breath, wiped the blood from her nose with her coat sleeve, and broke back off into a run to catch up to the others.

“The Banuk believe that trials breed strength, that suffering crystalizes focus. And they start young,” Aluki commented wryly, almost enjoying the surprised look on Aloy’s face.

“Do you know how the hardest ice forms?” she asked, beginning to lead Aloy through the crowds again, “Pressure. Incredible forces placed on the ice push all the air, all the impurities out. Because of this work, it becomes clear and strong. The Banuk see themselves as the same.”

“And you? Do you feel the same?”

She considered carefully, “Yes I believe I do. The hunts I have taken up and the songs I have learned have hardened me into the melody I am today. The Banuk can be stubborn and cold but they have a clarity of focus unlike any other tribe I have seen. If they want something, they chase after it with single-minded focus. And for that I can respect them.”

“You speak about them as if you weren’t a part of them,” said Aloy.

Aluki smiled, with just a ghost of sadness penetrating her gaze.

“Sometimes I feel I am part of them, and other times that I am simply looking in. Something I’m sure you can understand, Huntress,” said Aluki, as her eyes shifted to Aloy. “But at least here I don’t have to worry about being treated like a slave, unlike the Carja.”

Aloy scrunched up her face as she nodded in agreement.

“The Nora and Carja are the day and night, almost literally.”

“So the Nora treat their women similar to us then?”

“Oh, no the Nora are matriarchal. They believe that life comes from the woman, that we all came from All-Mother and so women are best suited to govern that life. The elders select women who have had children and been leaders in the community in their earlier lives to lead when they die. But I think if their children die they are ineligible? Or maybe it’s if they die while they are matriarchs? I’m not too clear on that to be honest.”

“Seems complicated.”

“Everything with the Nora is complicated. So how does it work here?”

“Oh, Banuk succession is fairly easy.”

“Oh?”

“The ones that survive, lead.”

“That’s…fair.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Aloy was tying the newly bartered-for supplies into her pack when the first survivors began trickling in. Aluki spotted them before her, and nudged Aloy before moving in and amongst them, trying to glean information and help in ways she could.

They looked like ghosts, rags hanging off their bodies, fingers and arms blackened. Some were carrying bodies so frozen that they looked as stiff as statues, tinged blue with eyes coated in frost. Ice crystals clung to their faces, eyelashes, and hair but they were too tired to even notice at this point. The sheer hopelessness in their faces took Aloy by surprise, and even she couldn’t find the words to say for a moment.

“They said even the machines are frozen there. That there is nothing at all,” said Aluki quietly, rejoining Aloy after helping as much as she was able. “That it came…quickly.”

A slight twinge of fear resonated somewhere in her gut, as she busied herself retying the bundle for the eighth time. She expertly shoved it down almost as quickly as it flared.

“Good, then there isn’t anything to get in our way,” said Aloy, stone-faced, as she shouldered her pack.

Aloy could see Aluki’s jaw twitch and a brief flash of something in her eyes.

“Your pride will get you hurt someday, Aloy. And I don’t intend to get hurt as well. Many good, capable hunters did not make the journey. What makes you think you will,” Aluki said, serious as the storm in front of them. 

Aloy was about to open her mouth to retort back, when another clap of thunder, this time much closer, erupted from the sky. The wind had picked up, even in the short time they had been talking, and Aloy gazed grimly up to the summit.

This was getting worse much faster than she had anticipated, and now they were in an impossible situation.

Aloy whirled around, gesturing at the mountain face, frustration leaking through to her face.

“If we don’t go now, think of how many more people are going to suffer for this.” 

_And what I’m looking for will be gone and destroyed too._

“If we go today we will lose the light during the hardest climbs.”

“Aluki, if we DON’T go tonight, there won’t be a mountain to climb.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The mountain sloped up gradually for the first leg of their journey, more of a walk than a climb. For a while the only sounds were the crunching of the snow beneath their feet and the distant sounds of the whipping winds somewhere higher up.

The walking was warming her at least, she thought. Even if it was also leading her straight into more danger. But that seemed to be par for the course with the rest of her life. She snapped back to the present as she heard Aluki’s voice from ahead as they started to ascend the almost completely vertical cliffs.

“This is one of the more difficult climbs even in good weather. We must be careful but we must be fast. If we can at least make it up before the sun is gone we stand a chance.”

They had been climbing proper for over an hour now and Aloy’s arms were burning. The cliff face was nearly sheer and it was searingly cold on her fingers even inside the gloves.

They leveled out finally after several more minutes of hard climbing, into more of a steep walk than a vertical climb. Here they began seeing eerie sights as they headed for the flat area up ahead.

The bodies of the Banuk who had made it this far didn’t rot. It was far too cold up here, and the air was very thin. Aloy’s chest heaved, and she felt sweat gathering against her skin and the innermost layers of her clothing as she surveyed the scene. The bodies were in various positions, and most just looked like they were sleeping. It was a sobering reminder for the both of them, and neither spoke after that for quite sometime.

Finally, they crested onto a plateau of sorts, and stopped to catch their breath and bearings. The rocks were flatter than those they had passed further down, and were stacked into small mounds that dotted the landscape. Aloy caught a glimpse of a rough pattern in the stone. Stepping closer, she could see that it wasn’t natural, but was a carving of a large bird. 

“I didn’t know the Banuk carved birds too? I thought you guys were all about machines?”

“ Not every single thing we carve is about the Machines. But no, these are not Banuk designs,” said Aluki, as she reached a gloved hand to trace the design. “Perhaps a tribe before ours?”

She began walking again, carefully picking her way across the darkening landscape, as Aloy shrugged and followed. 

Whether it was the change in altitude or the lack of trees to impair vision, the brunt of the storm seemed to bare down on them faster now. Her ears began popping as the slope began to increase, slowly at first, and then faster, until they were almost climbing again, using hands as much as feet to pick a path through the blizzard.

The looming wall of white was almost on them, when Aluki stopped again just as they had reached a flatter outcropping, this time so quickly that Aloy had to arch her back out to avoid ramming into her. She turned around and stepped closer into Aloy.

“Uh,” was all Aloy could manage, unused to having someone quite this close and not necessarily enjoying it, before she felt a tug around her waist. Looking down she saw Aluki finishing a knot, linking them together with a large, thick strand of rope.

“Relax Jumpy, this is just so we don’t get separated and I don’t have to waste time looking for you.”

Aloy narrowed her eyes as Aluki began to move further away again.

“Are you implying I couldn’t find my way back down alone?”

“No, I’m just saying it right out,” she called over her shoulder, wind catching the words so that she had to yell to be heard.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The going was markedly more difficult here, and much slower. The snow was blinding, and it stung Aloy’s cheeks. They had to shuffle along at a snail’s pace, both hands out in front of them to try to find rocks before they tripped over them. Aloy had begun to lose track of how long they had been fighting the elements up here, when all of the sudden she heard a tremendous, echoing thud. It reverberated out into the air, reminiscent of drums almost, but Aloy recognized the sound of metal being struck now, almost as well as she recognized her own name. Taking up the slack of the rope, she picked her way the last few feet until she could see Aluki’s shape, one hand touching a massive metal wall that stretched upwards and out of sight.

“ALONG THE WALL,” shouted Aloy, pointing further down.

She began walking to the left, with one hand on the wall to feel for a door, and the other out for balance as the wind whipped hard across her, stinging her face and feeling like large hailstones beating against her chest and legs. After a few painstakingly slow minutes, her hand brushed against a protrusion from the wall, a handle, she felt as she grasped it. Placing a foot on the wall, she yanked with all her might, only to be rewarded with a loud POP as the handle came sailing off. She stumbled backwards and angrily chucked the, now useless handle, off into the snow.

“WHAT NOW,” said Aluki, more mouthing the words than even saying them.

“I HAVE AN IDEA.”

Aloy pulled her spear off her back and jammed the bottom into one of the holes the handle had left. Using as much leverage as she could get, she slammed her body against the other side of the spear. After a few pushes, there was a cracking sound, and the ice holding the door shattered, allowing the two of them to pry it open just enough to slip inside.  
The wind was less harsh here, the roaring dulled and distorted by the metal walls and thick snow underfoot. Whatever this place had been, it was long destroyed now. A large hole in the ceiling off to the right swept snow in, whirling the flakes around before they drifted into larger banks up against overturned tables and bookshelves. The facility was multi-leveled, and Aloy could see broken windows higher up on the left side of the atrium. 

“We’re going to have another climb it looks like,” said Aloy, as she began pulling out her boot spikes and tying them on.

Aluki mirrored the actions, but as she was tying hers she glanced up.

“You do know what we are looking for up here right?”

Aloy pursed her lips for a moment, placing her hands on her hips and craning her head back to scan the large open area.

“Not really,” she admitted, “Though I’ll know it when I see it.”

Tapping her Focus as she spoke, Aloy began meticulously testing the ice and they painstakingly began their ascent up to the balcony that was adjacent to the windows she had spotted earlier. The ice was thick, which helped their progress about as much as the whipping wind and increasing snow hampered it. Aluki scampered up the ice like it was a gentle hill, much to the annoyance of Aloy. Reaching the top a few seconds before, Aluki turned and squatted down.

“Here, take my hand,” she offered, reaching down towards her.

“I don't need it, thanks,” said Aloy as she swung herself up the rest of the way, ignoring the outstretched arm.

Aluki shrugged, and turned to observe the far wall properly. It had been obscured from their vision by the height of the platform, but now they could see a long control panel, stretching almost twenty feet across the entire far wall of what once was a room. Lights were blinking erratically and as she approached, she could see squiggling lines of strange symbols arcing across screens, images distorted by the layers of ice caked over everything.

“I think I’ve found your prize, Huntress,” called out Aluki as Aloy stepped closer.

There was a soft humming noise as Aloy flipped on her Focus to scan the panel. About halfway down the length of the system, her vision exploded with code lines, many referencing air quality tests and barometric readings or humidity levels in various far off locations.

Aether.

“Yeah this is it alright. Keep an eye on that storm, I’ll only be a second,” said Aloy as she crouched under the console, pulling out the lantern-like hardware that CYAN had helped her craft. Aluki stepped over to the edge of the platform, craning her neck to peer out the gaping hole in the roof nearby.

Aloy was so focused on hooking the cords up correctly that she didn’t even notice a change in the screen. If she had looked up earlier she might have seen the lines of code shifting, speeding up; might have seen the lights beginning to blink more frantically, green turning red. As it was, she had just enough time, as she lifted her eyes to glance at the monitor, to read two words.

MALWARE DETECTED

Aloy had just turned her head to Aluki, who was still standing at the edge of the platform, still trying to gauge the storm. Words tried to escape her throat but not in time, as she felt a massive wind slam her, so hard that it felt like stone, and drive her into the ground. Warm blood filled her nostrils and she gagged as she spit some out, face full of snow and completely disoriented. Jerking up, she glanced about wildly for the source, before realizing to her horror, that Aluki was nowhere to be seen.

“ALUKI” she half choked, half shouted out, as she staggered to her feet.

For a heart stopping moment, there was no response, but then- faintly- “Here.”

Aloy immediately dashed to the edge of the platform and looked down to see Aluki sprawled below, with her left leg bent at an impossible angle, and blood trickling over her eyebrow. Her eyes were unfocused and her head lolled back against the snow and ice.

“Shit, shit, shit, Hold on I’m coming!” Aloy called out.

Dashing back, she yanked the, now full, lantern out of the access port and scrambled down as carefully as she could. Landing hard, Aloy wiped the still flowing blood from her nose and bent to inspect Aluki’s leg.

“I’ll save you the trouble: It’s broken,” wheezed out Aluki, as she gazed at the leg. She weakly turned her head and vomited onto the snow beside her.

At this point Aloy realized how foolish they had been. How foolish she had been. They had come up here, at night, without telling anyone where or when they were going. They were at the top of a mountain, with a raging storm around it, which they had just barely been able to summit with 4 good legs. And now they would have to go down, in complete darkness, with 3.

“Hold on, let me see if I can find something for a splint,” said Aloy, rummaging through the scrap metals until she came up with two pieces of roughly equal length to each other and the injured leg.

“I’m going to have to straighten this out okay?” Aloy said, regret tinging her voice.

Aluki just leaned back and closed her eyes as Aloy put her hands on either side of the hunter’s leg. A stream of obscenities exploded from Aluki’s mouth as Aloy pulled her leg onto the piece of metal and began type what was left of the rope around it.

“Can you walk?” asked Aloy, desperation beginning to show in her voice.

“Leave me. I’m going to slow you down; I won’t make it through that storm,” choked out Aluki, as she gripped her leg.

Aloy was about to protest, about to say that was a stupid idea and they’d find a way, but as she stood again she realized it was deathly silent in the chamber now. Where there had once been howling wind and screeching metal on metal, now there was calm air. Glancing through the broken windows, she could even see the stars painted across the sky perfectly. It looked like whatever storms the sub function had caused, were gone now that it was contained.

“It looks like we don’t have to,” said Aloy, breathless as she took it in.

It seemed luck might actually be on their side tonight. Now she just needed a little more. Finding a small sheet of the metal that had been ripped off, Aloy pulled Aluki onto the makeshift sled, as gently as she could. Using the last of their rope, she tied a crude sort of handle onto the contraption and then looped it around her waist.

“I can walk,” called out Aluki, weakly from behind her.

“I believe you entirely,” said Aloy.

“Then why aren’t we stopping?”

“Because I don’t believe it for a second.”

“That’s…fair.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The starry sky was eerily silent compared to before, and the night seemed even colder without the cloud cover. Aloy trudged through the heaps of snow as fast as she could without breaking one of her legs as well. Time was against them and she didn’t want to dwell on what would happen if she didn’t get them back quickly. Her sweat was freezing to her almost as fast as she was sweating it out, and the combination made her hot and cold all over, shivering violently.

The trip back seemed to pass almost in a blur, a combination of adrenaline and desperation keeping Aloy moving forward. She shouted at the injured hunter constantly, anything she could think of to garner a response that let her know she was still conscious. As they came to the last rocky outcropping and saw the lights of the city rise up to meet them, Aloy sagged under the weight of her exhaustion. Her knees hit the rocks hard, and it was a long minute before she rose again, on shaky legs.

“Here,” she called out weakly, head hung low as she pulled the sled slowly forward, stumbling more and more as the cold sucked the life from her body from her feet up.  
It was all hitting her at once now, the pain in her face, in her hands and feet from the cold, and she could see spots dancing in the corners of her eyes. 

“HERE,” she bellowed out louder this time, and sure enough she heard the growing sounds of footsteps.

Two extremely confused and concerned hunters materialized out of the darkness, carrying small torches which they dropped immediately, snow snuffing the light with a hiss. One young man deftly untied the rope from around Aloy’s waist and began running with the makeshift sled, back towards the city, shouting like mad. The other young hunter, a girl with a mass of curly brown hair, pulled Aloy’s arm over her own shoulder and they made their way slowly in pursuit.

Suddenly lights were in Aloy’s eyes, and hands were touching her face, her hands, and feet. She batted them off but they just kept returning, faster than her sluggish brain could keep up with. Half dragged, half led to a tent, someone began forcing spoonfuls of warm broth down her throat while two other hands wrapped thick furs around her shoulders. She was pushed down into a bedroll and remembered nothing else besides comfortable darkness.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At dawn the next day she awoke, stiff and sore but otherwise no worse for the wear. Her fingers worked the frozen leather of her boots onto her feet, and she ducked under the tent flap. Greeted by the crisp morning air, she only had to ask a few people before she was pointed in the right direction and began walking.

Aloy found the right tent and ducked inside, pausing as her eyes adjusted. The thick, acrid smell of smoke mixing with medicinal herbs hung heavy inside, and the light was dim as the fire was mostly just smoldering coals this early. Aluki sat, propped up on a cot in one of the corners, watching as Aloy entered. Silence hung heavy inside, as Aloy shifted from foot to foot, hands fidgeting with some imaginary tassels on her clothes.

“Thank you,” said Aluki gently, voice heavy with sleep and medicine to dull the pain.

“Well it would have been poor form to drag you up there and then let you die or something.”

Aluki scoffed softly but there was a wry grin across her lips.

“So, did you get what you needed from that death trap?”

Aloy pulled the lantern from one of the folds of her outerwear and held it up so it caught the low firelight, gleaming.

“What is it?” asked Aluki, curiosity lighting her eyes.

“It’s ah. Part of an old machine I think.” Began Aloy, heart picking up speed.

_Should I tell her? Would she just think I’m crazy?_

_She did risk her life to help you get it._

“I think it may be very important to keeping the world safe. I think it’s from the people who came before us.”

Aluki was silent for a moment.

“So is it magical too then?” Aluki asked laughing a little.

Immediately Aloy’s face flushed then fell sharply and she shoved the lantern back into her cloak.

_Stupid stupid stupid stupid_

Aluki seemed to realize something had changed, eyes searching the other woman’s face. “Hey I was just-”

“No, no I get it,” said Aloy, attempting a poor excuse for a fake laugh. “I hope your leg heals up soon. I would stay longer but I , uh, I got a message from Meridian. You know how those Carja are.”

Aluki dropped her gaze, staring at the dirt in front of her. “Right of course. I-I didn’t mean to say that you were lying about the device.”

“I know, its fine really. I’ve gotta go, maybe I’ll see you later then.” Finished Aloy lamely, as she backed out of the tent.

“Goodbye Aloy,” called Aluki softly, but she was already gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being patient with me. This is just really hectic time in my life right now with applications to grad schools and whatnot. Rest assured, I have all the chapters for this planned out already so it may take forever but it will get done! Thanks for all the feedback and nice comments, I really appreciate them!


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